Home
by rainy angellz
Summary: A survey mission goes awry when Commander Charles Tucker, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Hoshi Sato get sucked into a wormhole that lands them in September 2002. They must survive and live with the people of the time.


Title: Home   
Author: Averie   
eMail: averie_chambers@hotmail.com   
Category: R/S   
Spoilers: Just a little one for "Desert Crossing"   
Rating: PG-13   
Content: Drama/Violence/Romance   
Summary: Just as Ensign Sato and Lieutenant Reed spark up a bit of romance, they, along with Commander Tucker get pulled into the twenty-first century. Archer and Enterprise have to battle to retrieve them.   
Begin Date: August 20, 2002   
Completion Date: August 29, 2002   
Disclaimer: Don't own em. Not mine. Never will be. Paramount owns them. 

Author's Notes -- 

Many to come.. I have no idea about some of the dates or anything about San Francisco, so I'm just going with the flow here. And my Spanish is kinda shoddy, I've been out of school for too long. 

This also has some reference, well actually a rather large reference to September 11, 2001, those who are offended by that stuff, read at your own risk. 

Also, this is my FIRST Enterprise fanfic. -_- I'm tryin my best here, so sorry if this one sucks. Let me know, I LOOOVEEEE feedback.   
  
  
  


@->->--   
Ensign Hoshi Sato's quarters, 0200 hours   


Personal Log September 10, 2152:   
Throughout the last two weeks, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and I have been somewhat more friendly. Just two nights ago, he and I had attended the movie-of-the-week, which was entitled "Kate & Leopold". Apparently it was a early twenty-first century movie. It was a cute movie I suppose, if you're into that whole romance with good-looking men with accents, which coincedentily, I do. I have to admit, I think Lieutenant Reed is cute, but he always seems to keep to himself. He's shy, but somewhat mysterious. Sometimes I wonder if he has any interest in me. He has asked me to join him for lunch after our shift. I look forward to spending more time with him and getting to know him -- his true self. 

"End personal log." Ensign Hoshi Sato said. 

She looked over at the chronometer and saw the time. 0208 hours. Her shift would start in 28 minutes. Hoshi washed her face with a washcloth and savored the fresh cool water on her face. She changed into her uniform and left her quarters for her shift.   


@->->--   


The shift didn't seem too long for Hoshi. Malcolm and Hoshi kept exchanging glances across the bridge. They probably drew attention to themselves, especially from the very observant Commander Tucker. Even Captain Archer gave his communications officer and armory officer the occasional curiousity glance. Archer knew his linguist well enough to know when she was falling for someone. He didn't have to ask. Or even take another look at Malcolm. In a way, Archer was happy for the both of them because neither had really been socialiable outside of their shifts and work. 

"Ensign," Archer said, looking at Hoshi, "Is something wrong with your neck? You seem to be turning your head towards your right side." In his mind, he snickered. 

"No sir, sorry sir." Hoshi said, biting her lip. She didn't want to get caught diverting her attention away from her duties. 

The shift ended without much excitement. The only excitement in the air was between Malcolm and Hoshi. The pair bounded off the bridge with the largest smiles on their faces. 

"Both seemed to be so happy about getting off their shift. Normally, they would be the ones to want to stay on shift longer. This must be good." Tucker thought to himself.   


@->->-- 

Mess Hall, 1230 hours 

Hoshi was a bit apprehensive about this whole space thing, but it was a nice feeling to have. After being persuaded by Captain Archer to join the Enterprise, she wasn't all that comfortable in space. She still wasn't. She was just beginning to make friends; Malcolm being one of the good ones that she's found onboard. 

Malcolm and Hoshi had just gotten their meals and taking their seats by the observation window. The view was one of beauty and wonder. The black blanket of space and stars was one of the unknowns; one of the things they were there to find. To go where no one had gone before. 

"I just love the view. This makes this whole space travelling thing worth it." Hoshi said, taking a bite of her chicken sandwich. 

"What do you think you'd be doing right now, if you hadn't been persuaded into joining the Enterprise?" Malcolm asked curiously. 

"I don't know. Teaching Vulcan in Brazil exactly where Captain Archer found me to begin with." Hoshi said, "I enjoyed it. It was a good living on Earth." 

Hoshi secretly missed Earth, but was having a fine time aboard the Enterprise. She got to learn new languages firsthand, before anyone else knew them. It was exciting, but all at the same time, frightening. 

"If I hadn't come aboard the Enterprise, I would probably still be in England, having my father scold me for not joining the Royal Navy. I'm glad I came aboard. For one thing, the experience in space is just as good as meeting the crew. I'm glad that I got to know some of my fellow crewmates. I've made friends here, it's a wonderful thing." Malcolm said. 

Inside Malcolm, he was twisting and turning. He knew that he liked Hoshi, but he wasn't sure that the feeling was reciprocated. He never knew, and probably wouldn't have the guts to ask or make a move. Around any woman that he enjoyed spending time with, he always grew tongue-tied or baffled with himself. The woman usually thought it was cute, until it got annoying, and then at that point, they usually dumped him. Something inside Malcolm told him that Hoshi wouldn't do that to him. 

They continued to eat their lunches. Between both of them, there always seemed to be a bit of an awkward silence. Neither ever knew what to say. Perhaps it was one or both that was afraid of being completely honest about their feelings for one another. Hoshi threw a glance around the mess hall, and then stared at the passing stars. 

All Malcolm could do was stare at her. Her beautiful Japanese features. Smooth skin, silky dark black hair, and a smile that could kill a man in his tracks. He wondered what it would be like to touch her hair, to caress her smooth skin, to kiss her lips. 

"Malcolm, are you alright?" Hoshi said, her voice full of concern. 

He had been caught staring. "Sorry, I zoned out for a moment." 

"It's alright. So what do you say we catch next week's movie? I hear it's going to be "Pearl Harbor". Apparently that movie was a hit in the twenty-first century as well. Something about a male named Ben Affleck." Hoshi said and added, "A lot of things blow up." 

Malcolm smiled at her last comment. He knew about the history of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and visited the site once when he was younger. He couldn't turn down another movie outting with Hoshi. 

"I'd love to. This time I'll provide refreshments in my quarters afterwards." Malcolm said. 

"That sounds wonder -- " Hoshi began, but was suddenly interrupted a message over the communications device. 

"Senior officers, to the bridge." 

"Damn, we were getting along so well." Malcolm said to himself. He hoped to continue it later. 

Hoshi and Malcolm disposed of their trash, and headed to the bridge. 

@->->-- 

When they arrived on the bridge, they took their respective posts. 

"It's a shockwave coming from a nebula approximately 3 light years from our present location." T'Pol said. 

It wasn't dangerous, but they were on stand-by in case it was. 

"Hoshi, Malcolm, and Trip. I want you three to approach the nebula in the shuttle. Just take a few scans, a few pictures and return." Captain Archer said. 

The three rose from the respective posts, and headed for the lift. On the way to the shuttlebay, Trip couldn't stop smiling. He barely held his little giggle in. 

"Trip, is there something wrong?" Hoshi asked. 

"No, no, I'm fine Hoshi. We'd better keep together on this one, it could be dangerous." Trip said. 

"T'Pol just stated that it was not a dangerous nebula." Malcolm said. 

"Well ya never know, do ya? That nebula could go at any moment." Trip said. 

They reached the shuttlebay and entered the shuttle. 

"This will be the longest survey mission I've been on." Malcolm thought to himself. 

@->->-- 

They were there for a little over an hour, and they were just sitting there, observing the nebula and the scans. The computer did most of the work, but the computer could always go on the fritz if it wanted to. 

Hoshi didn't even understand why she was even there. She was a linguist, not a scientist. She had assumed that Captain Archer probably thought she could use a break from all those dangerous missions. With this nebula, it wasn't really much of an excitement, which was a relief to Hoshi. 

"What's say we have some lunch?" Trip asked. 

"We'll be going back to the ship soon, why should we eat emergency rations?" Hoshi asked. 

"Well I'm hungry." Trip said, taking a potato chip out of its bag. 

Suddenly, the computer was beeping, and the nebula was acting up a bit. The computer was spitting out read-out after read-out, of information that indicated that the nebula was being a bit unstable. Suddenly, the nebula emitted a shockwave that caused the communications array to go offline onboard the shuttle. They had no way of contacting the ship. The next shockwave disabled the shuttle's impulse engines, making it nearly impossible for them to even get back to the Enterprise. 

@->->-- 

"Captain, the shuttle has lost their impulse engines and communications due to the shockwaves." Ensign Travis Mayweather informed his captain. 

"Can we go in and get them?" Captain Archer asked. 

"It would be unadvisable. This ship is not equipped to handle nebulas. We would not be able to bring the shuttle back with us. The machinery you use to retrieve your shuttle would not withstand the shockwaves of the nebula." T'Pol said, "I would suggest waiting until the shuttle repaired its impulse engine and returned to the ship. It would be the safest alternative." 

"How long until the nebula is stable?" Archer asked. 

"According to most nebulas, they usually settle within an hour." 

@->->-- 

Back on board the shuttle, they couldn't do anything but sit and wait out the storm.   
The shuttle was bouncing back and forth between the shockwaves, their shields holding out for the most part. They were drifting for awhile. They couldn't do much with the shockwaves anyway, so they were just sitting ducks. 

Then, suddenly the nebula disappeared. 

"What just happened?" Hoshi asked. 

"The nebula is gone." Malcolm said. 

"So is the Enterprise." Trip said. 

The three on board were befuddled as to what happened to the nebula and the Enterprise. They didn't even know where they were. From the looks of it, they were in an area that resembled the space near the Earth. The stars, the constellations, the planetery alignment. All of it was familar again. The Earth's moon shone like it had last time they had seen it, which was almost a year ago. 

"Is that Earth?" Hoshi asked, dumbfounded by what had just occurred. 

Malcolm looked out the viewport window and saw Earth and it's seven continents. 

"Looks like Earth to me," Malcolm said, "Home sweet home." 

"We should probably try to get the engines online and land this puppy on Earth and then try to contact headquarters and let them know what happened." Trip said. 

"Sounds good to me." Malcolm said. 

Trip worked his magic on the controls and the engines were back and running on impulse. Trip guided the shuttle down towards the atmosphere of Earth and headed straight for the North American continent. 

Malcolm took readings; atmospheric, ozone readings. They were unusual for their time. 

"Hoshi, take a look at these." Malcolm said, calling Hoshi to his workarea. 

Hoshi took a look at the readings. 

"These aren't current with the twenty-second century." Hoshi said. 

"What century are they concurrent with?" Trip asked from his console. 

"The twenty-first century." Malcolm replied. 

@->->-- 

On board the Enterprise, there were so many questions, yet no answers. The shuttle had disappeared from their viewer and the shuttle was nowhere to be found. No trace, not even an emission was left from the shuttle. It had disappeared without a trace. The entire crew was dumbfounded as to what happened. 

Captain's Log; September 11, 2152: 

My chief engineer, my communications officer and my armory officer have disappeared without a trace. We have not been able to establish communication with them, nor have we been able to locate them. Subsequent scans have shown that there may have been wormhole of some sort, but we cannot pinpoint the exact location of where the other end of the wormhole leads to. The wormhole may collapse at any moment, in which case, three of my senior officers will be lost forever. It is completely baffling to the crew and myself. Sub-Commander T'Pol has been leading the investigation into finding a way to retrieve them, but so far has been futile. Thankfully, the Vulcans have information on wormholes and technical knowledge that may aide in the hopes of eventually finding a way to bring the three officers back to the Enterprise.   


"End log." Captain Archer said. 

He was in his quarters, making his log entry. Porthos sat at the end of his bed, and looked just as sad as Archer felt. Archer rubbed the dog behind his ears and sighed. He was guilt-ridden. Even though nearly a year had passed, he knew that Hoshi still wasn't comfortable with space travel, yet he still sent her on this mission. Trip was always the adventurer, so he would probably love where they are right now. All Archer could hope for was that the trio was in a familar place, and that they were safe. All he hoped for is that they'd be alive and safe.   


@->->--   


"If we're in the twenty-first century, then space travel into deep space hasn't been discovered yet. And the technology that we have on board this shuttle has not been invented yet." Malcolm said, with a slight hint of worry in his voice. 

"We've got to deal. We don't know how long we're going to be here. We're going to run out of power sooner or later. We've gotta land this thing and figure out a way to either conceal ourselves, or somehow cloak in with the twenty-first century culture. But we may do something that may cause the timeline to become frayed." Trip said, "Of course, we could try to figure out a way to contact the Enterprise. However impossible that may be with our technology." 

The three looked at one another. They knew they no choice, but to land the shuttle in a remote area of the planet, and then somehow trek into a town or city. If the Enterprise ever found them, they would be the first people to ever travel through time, with the exception of the odd Crewman Daniels from the thirtieth century. 

"If we do go into a town, what would we do? We couldn't just walk around. If I remember history right, we need money." Hoshi said, "What would we do for money?" 

Trip gave it some thought. "Hoshi, what languages do you speak? I mean Earth languages." 

"Japanese, English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Russian. I know the basics of some other languages, as well as the dead language, Latin, but those are the ones I speak fluently. Hoshi said, "Why do you ask Commander?" 

"First off, if we're going to land on Earth, we need to stop with the rank. You can call me Trip." Trip said, "And secondly, if we're going to get money, I think you can work as a translator. If the books are right, then most people still immigrate to America and don't speak English too well." 

"Sounds good, just out of curiousity, what are you and Malcolm going to do?" Hoshi asked just a bit playfully. 

"Well, we could probably get jobs as waiters or something. Our expertise is in engineering on a space vessel, and armory. As I recall, weapons weren't very liked in this time. If we're in the year 2002, then the world, and most importantly America, was just attacked by the Al-Qaeda on September 11 of the previous year." Malcolm said, " 

"Alright," Hoshi said, "It might even be fun to teach kids languages or serve as a translator." 

"Great," Trip said, "Now let's get this baby on the ground. How does San Francisco sound?" 

"Sounds clean." Malcolm said. 

"There goes it, San Francisco here we come." Trip said. 

To avoid being detected, they entered over the Pacific ocean and emitted a signal that made it look like a weather balloon to most radar of the twenty-first century. They entered United States air space, and entered through a valley of mountains outside the San Francisco area. They landed the shuttle in a depression. They took their scanners and whatever equipment they could carry and exited the shuttle and took a breath of fresh air. 

"The air feels different in this century." Malcolm said. 

"It's probably cleaner, or it might be this area." Trip said. 

They used rocks and dirt from the surrounding areas to hide the shuttle from view. It was still early morning when they arrived at the San Francisco city limits. They saw the famous Golden Gate Bridge that has miraculously survived for over two hundred years. Their first goal was get at least one job. From reading old texts, schools opened around 0800 hours, and they were there just in time. They walked around the city, and eventually came upon San Francisco High School. 

"Hoshi, this might be your chance. We seriously gotta get at least one job. We can settle into a place tonight, and look for jobs tomorrow." 

"Alright," Hoshi said, walking into the school building across the street. Malcolm adn Trip waited in the small park across the street. 

"Trip, what if we never get back to the Enterprise? We may be stuck here forever." Malcolm said. 

"Well if it comes to that, then I suppose we'll just live here. We can't really meet other people because that would disturb the timeline, and we want to try to avoid mixing with the timeline. We already could be causing some damage to the timeline by even having Hoshi get a job here, or just our entering Earth's atmosphere." Trip said.   


"I sure hope Captain Archer is trying his best to find us. The Vulcans have had some progress in the wormhole technology. So hopefully they can try to make new progress in that area and get us back home." Malcolm said. 

@->->--   


Hoshi had never seen a school such as this. These teenagers had bolts through their noses and hair colors that she'd only seen on aliens. She walked into the administration office, and she seemed a bit nervous. A young woman approached her. 

"Hi, is there anything I can help you with?" The woman asked. 

"I just came in here to ask if there were any openings in teaching a language." Hoshi asked, "I'm Hoshi Sato." 

"Well, there are a few openings for teaching in the language department." The woman said, "What languages are you interested in teaching?" 

"Well I know quite a variety of languages, including Japanese, English, Spanish, Mandarin, and French. So out of those, I can teach them all." Hoshi said. 

The woman was clearly impressed by her adept skill in language. 

"¿Dondé estas, la señora?" She asked. 

"Nacía en Japón, pero crecí en los estados unidos." 

"Great, you're hired. You start tomorrow." She said. 

"Thank you so much ma'am." 

"You're very welcome. And from this day forward, it's Emily Patterson. I'm the principal here at San Francisco High." She said. 

Hoshi was a bit taken aback from the nature of this "interview", but was glad anyway when she was hired. 

"Thank you so much Ms. Patterson, I'll see you tomorrow." Hoshi said, turning and walking away. 

"It's Emily, Hoshi." Emily said.   


@->->--   


Just then, Hoshi came out of the school building with an ear-to-ear grin on her face. 

"I got it. I start tomorrow teaching Spanish and French." Hoshi said, "Now I suppose we could try to find an apartment around here." 

"Yeah, that would be the next appropriate step. How much do you think they'll pay?" Trip asked. 

"They said about three hundred and fifty per week. Which I'm guessing isn't bad?" Hoshi said. 

"Well if we find a rather cheap place, then I guess it won't be." Malcolm said, "As they say in this century, let's get apartment hunting." 

They did just that. They went from apartment building to apartment building, looking for at least a one bedroom apartment at a good rate. They eventually found a great apartment overlooking the bay at a good price. Six hundred dollars a month *and* it was furnished. It was beautiful. 

"What do you guys think of this place? It's got two bedrooms and a rather spacious bathroom than to what we're normally accustomed to." Hoshi said, "It's wonderful." 

"It looks great. Someone's going to have sleep on the sofa." Malcolm said, "Or bunk together." 

Malcolm looked over at Hoshi and gave her a dimpled smile. Trip gave them a glance, and what his thoughts were about these two were correct. 

"Ok, so you two can hotbunk, and I'll sleep by myself. I'll even use earplugs, you guys can *anything* you want." Trip said. 

"It's not like that, Trip." Hoshi said. 

"It's alright Hoshi, you don't have to tell me anything." Trip said mockingly. 

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "I'll take the couch." 

Trip went to make the arrangements with the landlord, and they were all set. They would be able to move in the same day. The landlord was extremely generous. Trip had mentioned that they were just getting back on their feet financially, and that Hoshi had gotten a great job, and that Malcolm and himself were getting jobs, and that they hadn't any money. The landlord gave them two hundred dollars on a loan. Trip was extremely surprised that the landlord had been so friendly and generous. Of course, it also might have had something to do with Trip's charmingly good looks. 

"I say we do some shopping. Our uniforms look too.. how do you say it in this century? Out of style." Trip said, flashing the two hundred dollars. 

"Wow, you're good." Malcolm said. 

They went to the closest and supposedly cheapest store. Target. The moment they walked in they noticed the prices. Everything was extremely cheap. Apparently they were having big sales all over the place. Each bought two pairs of jeans, and several t-shirts. Eventually they'd buy more of whatever they needed, but for now, that was all the needed. They went back to their apartment and watched a bit of television. According to the news, the exact date was Thursday September 12, 2002. Hoshi and Malcolm sat together, a bit cozy, and Trip sat on the other end. 

"Well at least we know the outcome of this one. Al-Qaeda loses." Hoshi said, "But I can't believe that many people had to die due to this event." 

"At least it gave the world perspective and bonded the world together against terrorism. If that," Malcolm said indicated the footage of the World Trade Center falling, "could happen to America, one of the most strongest nations of the time, it could happen to anyone." 

"According to my family's history, my great-great grandfather fought in the war against the Al-Qaeda. Even though there weren't many United States soldiers killed, he was in the battle. He flew aircrafts called F-16s." Trip said. 

"That's amazing. I don't even know where my family was when all of that happened. I'm just glad that I wasn't alive to see it. It must've been terrible for America at the time." Hoshi said. 

They sat there and watched the rest of the footage and the evening news. Then Hoshi and Trip went to their rooms respectively, and Malcolm took the couch like he said he would. They slept well, but were left wondering what would happen to their futures, or their pasts. 

@->->-- 

Personal log; September 11, 2152: 

As Captain it is my duty to remain strong in times of crisis. To be the fort for someone who may be in turmoil. At this moment, I cannot be the fort. So far, the attempts to find Hoshi, Trip and Malcolm have proved futile. T'Pol informs me that it the only thing that we could possibly do is to look through Earth's database, the entire database, and look for traces of them, and what time period they may have been to. It will be time-consuming, and deathly tiring, but it might be worth it. I don't know anymore. Wherever they are, my prayers are with them. I have faith that I will find them one day. 

"End personal log." Captain Archer said. 

He gave Porthos a look of surrender. He didn't want to give up, but it was taking too long to find them. It had already taken two days away from their mission, and with more and more time, it grew more and more futile. 

"If only someone could give us a sign, anything." Captain Archer said outloud to no one in particular. 

Suddenly, Crewman Daniels, the supposedly dead crewman appeared out of nowhere. 

Archer blinks to clear his vision. 

"Daniels, what are you doing here?" Archer asked. 

"I've come to help you. I know Commander Tucker, and I know something's wrong with him. I feel it in the fabric of time." Crewman Daniels said. 

"Well you've sorta hit on the nose. Commander Tucker, Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Sato were caught in a wormhole, and we have no idea where they may be." Archer said. 

"Well, I know where they are." Daniels said. 

"Where?" Archer said. 

"The year 2002 Earth." Daniels said, "But with your technology we'd be lucky to go back in time to yesterday." 

"So how do we do it?" Archer said. 

"I can't tell you that." 

"So what good are you to me?" Archer said with a bit of frustration in his voice. 

"You will figure it out." Daniels said, "Work with T'Pol, she knows more than you think." 

With that, he disappeared without a trace. 

"Work with T'Pol, why wouldn't she be telling me something?" Archer muttered to himself. He went off to find T'Pol. 

@->->--   


Hoshi awoke the next morning at around 6:30 AM, and got ready for her first day as a language teacher at San Francisco High School. She was somewhat excited about the thought of teaching again, but at the same time, afraid. Afraid that she may like this time period.   
Hoshi quietly walked into the bathroom and freshened herself up. Then she went back to her room, and put on a pair of jeans and a shirt. It would suit, she supposed. Then she quietly tiptoed out of her room, and past Malcolm. She had to stop and take a moment to look at him.   
He was sleeping on the sofa, comforter around him, and looked so peaceful and gentle. He snored lightly. Hoshi found it cute. She walked over to him, kissed him on the forehead and left for work. 

@->->-- 

Hoshi walked confidentily into the administration office to retrieve her assignment. She was greeted by Emily. 

"Good morning Hoshi. I see you're on time, here is your assignment for this semester." Emily said, handing her a card where her classes and subjects were, "I trust you'll have a good day." 

"Thank you Emily. Have a good day." Hoshi said, taking the card and walking out. She looked at the card and looked at her first class. It would be Spanish. The classroom was 105. She walked in the direction of the classroom, and opened the door. There she saw about thirty high school students awaiting their teacher. 

"They look good enough," Hoshi thought to herself as she entered the classroom. She walked towards the front of the classroom. She could feel the students' eyeing her every move. 

"Hello class, I'm Ms. Sato. I will be your Spanish teacher for this semester. I'm new to the San Francisco area. I just recently moved here from Tokyo where I was teaching English." Hoshi said. She sensed the class wasn't getting into it. 

Hoshi just looked at each student with a cheerful glance. None returned the glance. Hoshi knew it would be a tough job. Suddenly the door of the classroom opened and another student walked in. Hoshi stopped him. 

"Excuse me, who are you?" Hoshi asked. 

"Scott Johnson. Sorry I'm late." He said. 

"Don't let happen again. You will serve detention after school today." Hoshi said, laying down the law. 

"Damn it, you're new aren't you?" He said. 

"Yes I am." Hoshi said. 

"Sorry, in this school they don't give detention." Scott said. 

"Well, I know you're trying to trick me into letting you off, but I'm not. If there is no detention then you will assist me during your lunch period by helping me carry textbooks." Hoshi said. Her comment shocked the entire class. 

Knowing that the fight was futile, Scott gave in. "Alright, alright, I'll serve detention." 

"Wonderful. Now let's get down to business." Hoshi said, "According to my card, you will be learning Spanish from the very beginning. Has any of you taken Spanish prior to this class?" 

Only one student raised his hand, he was Spanish. 

"Wonderful. And what is your name?" Hoshi asked. 

"Jose Figueroa." 

"Great, so you will be able to assist in helping other students." Hoshi said. 

"Whatever." He said with little enthusiasm. 

Hoshi turned around and began writing on the board. On the board she wrote 'bienvenido al mundo del español.' 

"Now, welcome to the world of Spanish. This semester we will be learning the present tense, as well as how to express yourself in Spanish. You will be able to write out complete sentences and have a simple conversation with someone." Hoshi said with enthusiasm. She liked teaching the class, as well as brushing up on her Spanish. 

Throughout the entire period, the students showed such a low level of enthusiasm for Spanish, and speaking for that matter. All her classes had become like that, and she didn't like that. She wanted to actually *get* through to the kids. She left the school feeling as if she had just been sucked into a world where kids didn't want to learn or be successful. She would find a way to get through to the kids. She would find a way if it hurt her. 

@->->-- 

Malcolm woke that morning and remembered the morning. He had remembered that Hoshi had awoken far much earlier than he had, and she had kissed him before she left. He could still feel the coolness of her lips on his forehead. He was lost in thought for a moment. He snapped out of it when he heard someone clear their voice. It was Trip of course, just having gotten up. 

"Good morning Trip." Malcolm said. 

"Hoshi gone to work already?" Trip asked. 

"Yea, she's gone." Malcolm said smiling. 

"You seem awfully happy, care to share some of that happiness with me?" Trip asked taking a seat next to him. 

"Have you ever been in love Trip?" Malcolm said, thinking about Hoshi. 

"Once. I was training at Starfleet for orbital engineering. I met her there and I fell in love with her so bad. She died in a training mission." Trip said. 

"Sorry." Malcolm said. 

"It's Hoshi isn't it?" Trip asked. 

"Yea it is. She's so wonderful. I could tell her anything and she wouldn't judge me or do me wrong." Malcolm said, "This time-travel experience might even be the thing that may cause our relationship to strengthen." 

"You guys are good together. Both of you are independent and private people. Of course, your relationship isn't too private, but that's alright." Trip said. 

"Really? Who else knows?" Malcolm asked. 

Trip chuckled, "Most of the bridge crew, the doctor, most of the crew.. really." 

"The captain as well?" Malcolm asked. 

"Yea, he kinda notices Hoshi and you exchanging glances during the entire shift." Trip said chuckling a bit harder. 

"Oh I see." Malcolm said, kind of embarrassed. 

"Don't sweat it. The Captain finds it kind of cute." Trip said, "Let's get up and get job-hunting." 

"What should we find jobs as?" Malcolm asked, "We're not exactly qualified for careers in the twenty-first century." 

"I don't know. Waiters, salespersons, I don't know. I guess we'll just have to look at some in the newspaper." Trip said, going to the door and retrieving a neatly folded bundle of paper. 

"A what?" Malcolm asked. 

"A newspaper. It's a periodical of some sort. People place advertisements to hire people through these things." Trip said, sat down and flipped to the classified section of the newspaper. 

Malcolm and Trip scanned the classifieds for possible jobs. There were such odd jobs. Trip found one he liked. 

"Lifeguard. Captain Archer would love that. He loves to swim." Trip said, "I think I'm going to be a lifeguard. The requirements are nothing compared to the requirements of our time." 

"Perhaps I can teach martial arts at this martial arts school." Malcolm said, pointing out the ad he saw, "If the standards of the twenty-first century are as low as they seem to be, these jobs should be a peice of cake." 

Trip and Malcolm looked at one another. Then they each freshened up and put on clothes. They had cut out their respective advertisements for hire, and got themselves looking good to go out to get these jobs. 

@->->-- 

Malcolm walked to the address that was in the advertisement. It looked extremely prestigeous for a martial arts facility. It looked to have a lot of training equipment, including pads, simulated people, and for some reason, a large stack of wood in the corner. Malcolm walked into the building, and approached a man who looked to be in charge. 

"Hello, my name is Malcolm Reed. I am here to inquire about the martial arts position." Malcolm said. 

"Hi, I'm Alexander Ludwig. I own this facility." Alexander said, shaking Malcolm's hand, "What type of martial arts skills do you have?" 

"Well, I'm a black-belt in karate and I have advanced weapons training. I was trained specially in hand to hand combat in the Royal Navy Infantry unit." Malcolm said. 

Alexander was impressed, he'd never met anyone with such high credentials. 

"Let's see what you got." Alexander said to Malcolm, obviously challenging Malcolm a bit. 

Alexander got set in his position, and so did Malcolm. Alexander made the first advance, but Malcolm's quick instincts were too fast for him. Soon Malcolm had Alexander pinned underneath him, and in a very defensive hold. 

"Wow, you are good." Alexander said, "You're hired. Follow me into my office, and we'll set up your schedule." 

Malcolm followed Alexander into his office and filled out the necessary papers. 

"What hours are you available to work?" Alexander asked. 

"From about eight to maybe five in the evening. I can do a few late sessions if that's all you have." Malcolm offered. 

"Ok, so I'll give you the daily session from ten until four. From ten until eleven, you'll be teaching six year olds; from eleven until one, you'll be teaching ten year olds; and from one thirty until four you'll be teaching all the teenagers." Alexander said, "You'll get paid ten dollars per hour." 

"Sounds wonderful." Malcolm said, "And this is seven days a week?" 

"Absolutely not. I would not allow my instructors to not get two days off per week. I'll give you Sunday and Thursday if that's alright with you. You can start Monday." Alexander said. 

"Whatever's fine with you is fine with me." Malcolm said. 

Soon Malcolm and Alexander finished their conversation, and Malcolm walked out of the martial arts facility feeling good. He'd be doing something he loved doing. Martial arts. 

@->->--   
  


Trip walked onto the pool deck, and into the office labeled "Office". He saw a man on the telephone, and thought it best not to disturb him. Trip stood there and waited for the man to get off the telephone. In all honesty, Trip was nervous. He hadn't had to apply for a job, most wanted him to work for them anyway.   
When the man got off the phone, he saw Trip. 

"How can I help you?" He said. 

"I'm here in response to your advertisement in the newspaper for a lifeguard." Trip said. 

"Ahh... wonderful. You're the first person to come in about this." he said, "I'm the director of public affairs, Philip Lambert." 

"I'm Charles Tucker." Trip said. 

"How many laps can you swim in a minute?" 

"About three." Trip said, "I've swam in many competitions, including the Triathalon in Penscacola, Florida where I won first place." 

"Wow, that sounds wonderful. How about we take you out to the pool and test you?" Philip said. 

"Sure," Trip said, walking out with Philip. 

When they reached the pool deck, Trip stripped down to his speedo. He went to one of the pool and waited until Philip blew the whistle. When Philip blew the whistle, Trip dived into the pool and instantly was across the pool and was back in less than forty-five seconds. He did it again three more times. That impressed Philip who greeted Trip when he came out of the pool. 

"Congratuations, welcome to the San Francisco Community Pool lifeguarding staff." Philip said. 

"Thank you." Trip said, drying himself off with a towel. 

"Just sign here," Philip said, handing Trip a pen, "Wonderful, you will work three days per week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from one in the afternoon until closing time, which is normally nine in the evening. You can start on Monday since you already missed most of today already." 

"Great, thank you so much." Trip said, putting his clothes back on. 

Trip left the pool that day with a sense of accomplishment. He hoped that Malcolm had had equal sucess with the job search. Trip started walking back to the apartment just as the sun began to set over the horizon. 

@->->-- 

Hoshi finished her day of teaching classes and was glad to be returning home. Home. That was such an unusual word for the situation they were in. Home was once onboard the Enterprise with people she knew, people she worked with. It was once on Earth, but this whole experience made Hoshi realize that home was really where the heart was. Her heart was with Malcolm and wherever she went with him, she was always protected from whatever harm there was. 

Hoshi entered the apartment to find it empty. She found a note on the coffee table that told her that Malcolm and Trip had went out to look for jobs. She found it surprising, but also kind of nice. Both men had such great skills for the future, but who knows what they might get jobs as here in the twenty-first century. 

Hoshi started up a little dinner for the three of them. She didn't really cook all too much, but she checked out a cook-book from the school library and decided to make mashed potatoes and chicken. She had never had such a meal before, but from what she had heard Trip say once on board Enterprise, it was quite tasty. 

She was almost done with the meal when she heard the apartment door open. Malcolm walked in with an ear-to-ear grin on his face. 

"I take you found a job." Hoshi said, smiling. 

"Yes I did. I'm the newest martial arts instructor at the Ludwig Martial Arts Training Facility." Malcolm said, giving Hoshi a kiss on the cheek. 

Looking over her shoulder, Malcolm saw she was cooking. 

"What are you cooking there, Hoshi?" Malcolm asked, looking at the food a bit precautiously. 

"I found it in a cook-book. Trip once talked about it. It's called chicken and mashed potatoes. It's supposed to fantastic." Hoshi said, hoping it would come out alright. 

"Well it smells terrific. Let me go freshen up." Malcolm said, walking into the bathroom. Hoshi heard him turn the shower on. 

A few minutes later, Hoshi was done with the meal. She set the table and put out the food. Just then, Trip walked into the apartment. 

"Whoa, what smells so good?" Trip asked, looking at the delicious food. 

"Chicken and mashed potatoes." Hoshi said, "I hope it tastes as good as it looks." 

"Me too." Trip said, "Where's Malcolm?" 

"He's in the shower. He should be done any minute." Hoshi said. 

Just then, Malcolm walked out of the bathroom with towel tied around his waist. 

"Whoa." Hoshi said quietly to herself, but Trip heard it anyway. He gave her a sideways glance. Malcolm changed and joined them for dinner. They sat down at the table. 

"That smells wonderful. I can't wait to taste it." Malcolm said. 

"Let's dig in." Hoshi said, spooning out some mashed potatoes for Trip and Malcolm. 

@->->-- 

Archer found T'Pol on the bridge. 

"T'Pol, may I speak with you in private?" Archer asked. 

"Of course." T'Pol said as she followed him into his ready room. 

"Have you found any leads on how to retrieve our colleagues?" Archer asked. 

"No, I have not." T'Pol said. 

"What types of things do Vulcans know about wormholes?" Archer asked. 

"Vulcans have advanced quite far in wormhole knowledge, but none of the knowledge can be applied to our current situation." T'Pol said, "If I'm not correct, your tone of voice tells me that you do not fully believe me, that I may have some ulterior motive." 

"Crewman Daniels approached me. He came to me, and told me that you knew something about time travel that could somehow get our people back." Archer said. 

"Yes, Vulcans have also advanced quite a bit in time travel. It is not fool-proof however, so I did not dare attempt to risk it." T'Pol said. 

"What risks are there? I'll decide whether or not we do it." Archer said. 

T'Pol hesitated before she began. "Find the focal point in time and space of where the officers are. Using a time portal, we will be able to send a team back in time to find Commander Tucker, Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Sato." T'Pol said, "It is a rather complicated process. Determining the year, and the location will be time consuming." 

"What are the risks?" Archer asked. 

"The portal is unstable. It is only stable for one day, but after twenty four hours, the portal becomes unstable and collapses." T'Pol said, "However, it has been known to collapse before twenty four hours, and in that case, the portal cannot be reopened until seven days after it has occurred." 

"Crewman Daniels told me they're in the year 2002, September 12 to be exact." Archer said, "I'll contact the Vulcan High Council and arrange everything." 

He walked out onto the bridge with T'Pol in tow, "Ensign Mayweather, set a course for Earth, warp 4." 

"Course laid in, on your command sir." Mayweather said. 

"Engage." Archer said. 

@->->-- 

After dinner, they had sat down to watch television. They found a television show that Trip had only heard about in media history. Some show about doctors. "ER". They sat down to watch the show.   
Trip found it a bit interesting. He thought the Jing Mei girl was kinda cute. As for storylines, Trip thought the storyline with Mark Greene was intriguing. The show took a lot of real-life twists and put them into the story.   
Hoshi found the show a bit boring. She wasn't all for the medical jargon, but she thought that the Croatian doctor was cute. "He could suture me anytime." Hoshi thought. 

"I could get used to this." Malcolm said to his two friends. 

"What?" Trip asked. 

"This whole thing. It's a bit relaxing. We're not in space, there's no worries about being blown out of the sky, the food we eat is better than Chef's, and it's an easy lifestyle. All we have to do is work. On Enterprise we're working *all* the time. I like this time of relaxation." Malcolm said, "I just hope Captain Archer doesn't take it out of my days of shore leave." 

Trip chuckled, "Yea it is kind of nice. When we go back, we should take this television back with us. Maybe we'll still get twenty-first century channels." 

Hoshi smiled. She was comfortable. Malcolm and her were close, closer than they would ever have been if they were still on Enterprise. Onboard Enterprise, they had zero privacy. Everytime they wanted to sit down to a nice quiet dinner, they were always interrupted with something about the warp core, the phase pistols, an alien trying to contact us. They never had peace together. 

After the one hour of television, the local news came on. They watched the local news. 

"Is it a UFO? Or is it really a sign of extraterrestrial life? Coming up next." The newsanchor said. 

That caught Trip's attention. "Uh oh.. " 

When the news came back, the three sat biting their nails. 

"An unidentified flying object was discovered over the San Francisco area early yesterday morning. No confirmations have been made, and scientists are skeptical of this discovery. The UFO has not been seen since. Officials are scoping the area for possible signs." The newsanchor said, "Over to you Justin." 

"Whew, I guess we got off close with that one." Hoshi said, breathing a breathe of relief. 

"Yea, if they didn't see anything and no one suspects we're in the all clear." Trip said as he yawned, "I'm off to bed, you two don't stay up too late now, ya hear?" 

"Yes father," Hoshi mocked, "Night Trip." 

Trip went to his room and immediately fell on the pillows and succumbed to a peaceful slumber. 

In the living room, Malcolm and Hoshi were lying on the couch watching television. They flipped through all the channels they had and found a rather humorous comedy, "Everybody Loves Raymond" Malcolm had his arms around Hoshi and held her close. Hoshi smiled. 

"Who is this Raymond fellow? He seems to come from a dysfunctional family." Malcolm said. 

"If I'm following correctly, it's just as the title states. It seems that everybody loves raymond. If I'm not misinterpreting his brother's feelings, then I would say that his brother feels neglected, but is happy anyway." Hoshi said. 

"That is some family." Malcolm said, "I could never live across the street from my parents. They would drive me insane. And I would never be able to be happy." 

"Where would you want to start a family?" Hoshi asked curiously. 

Malcolm thought carefully for a moment. "Anywhere, as long as my parents were not there, and I was there with the person I loved." Malcolm placed a kiss on Hoshi's forehead. 

That put yet another smile on Hoshi's face. Hoshi was getting a bit tired. She would have to wake up to go to work again the next morning. She knew there was some way to get through to those kids. 

"It's a wonder anyone would work with them. The kids were unresponsive to learning and were so unenthusiastic about it. What would make language exciting to learn? What would make them want to learn? From anyone?" Hoshi thought to herself. 

Those were her last thoughts as she drifted off sleep in Malcolm's arms. 

Malcolm chuckled a bit at a remark made on the television show. When he noticed that Hoshi was unresponsive, he peeked over to look at her, and he saw that shew as fast asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he reached for the remote control and quietly turned the television off. He took the comforter on the sofa and blanketed the two of them. Malcolm liked this. He was falling in love with Hoshi. 

@->->-- 

Captains Log; September 12, 2152 

After much debate with the Vulcan High Command, they have given the Enterprise permission to use their technology to create a time portal to the twenty-first century. Sub-Commander T'Pol will remain aboard the Enterprise to monitor the time portal as Ensign Mayweather and myself travel to the twenty-first century. We have pinpointed their location in the San Francisco area. It may be difficult to find them, but my hopes are that they will find us. We shall reach Earth in three days. I remain optimistic about this time travel experience. 

"End log." Archer said. He was feeling optimistic about traveling through time, "Ensign Mayweather, would you please join me in my ready room?" 

A few moments later, Ensign Mayweather was sitting opposite of Captain Archer. 

"Travis, I want you to travel with me back to the twenty-first century." Archer said, "If you do not wish to join me, I will understand." 

Travis thought for a moment. He had always read about the twenty-first century and always wished he could go there. "I accept Captain." 

"Wonderful. When we reach Earth meet me in the shuttlebay with comtemporary type clothing. We don't want to stick out too much." Captain Archer said. 

Travis left the ready room with a tingly sensation that only meant that he was going to have either a wonderful time, or a time from hell.   


@->->--   


"Okay, the endings for -AR verbs are "o", "as", "a", "amos", and "an". To conjugate the words, you simply take the -AR word, and drop the -AR, and add on the ending. For example,' Hoshi said, taking a peice of chalk and writing on the blackboard, "If you wanted to say, "I dance.", you would write, "Yo bailo." Do you understand?" 

Hoshi wrote out the entire conjugation for the word "bailar". Hoshi looked at the clock, there was about ten minutes left to the period. 

"Okay, I want to spend the rest of the period discussing a project that I want you guys to do. It's due next week. I want you to do research on a particular Spanish-speaking country. You will write a three to five page report on their customs, traditions, family life, society, government and their food. It's due next Friday." Hoshi said as she was greeted by a chorus of moans, and obvious dissatisfaction, "It doesn't have to be anything elaborate. Just tell me. Or you can pick the country you came from, just as long as you give me all those things I included." 

Just then the bell rung. Hoshi let out a sigh, she hoped the project would somehow bolster the class. She sat down at her desk as her next class entered the room. She propose the same assignment to all of her classes. 

After her next two classes, she was a bit exhausted. She sighed and then she heard a knock at the door. She was surprised to see it was Malcolm. 

"Malcolm! What are you doing here?" Hoshi said, giving him a hug and a kiss. 

"I thought I'd have lunch with you today." Malcolm said. 

"Great, where do you want to go?" Hoshi asked. 

"I was thinking just eating here, teachers cafeteria?" Malcolm said, "I don't want to go too far." 

"Alright, let's go." Hoshi said, taking her wallet with her. 

They walked down the hall amidst many glares from her peers and students. They entered the teachers' cafeteria and got a few sandwiches and sodas. 

"So how's the teaching thing going?" Malcolm asked as they sat down at a table. 

"It's going okay. I wish I could somehow motivate some of these students. They just don't seem to care." Hoshi said, "Any suggestions?" 

"How about Spanish trivia? Get everybody involved." Malcolm suggested, taking a bite of his egg sandwich. 

"I don't know. They barely listen. I doubt anything that I've said has gone into their heads." Hoshi said, "It seems so futile sometimes." 

"Don't give up, love," Malcolm said, "You'll get through to them. I'll help you." 

Hoshi smiled, "I wish there were more that I could do. I just feel so useless." 

"You're not, you'll get through to them." Malcolm said. 

"Anyway, work seems a bit depressing now," Hoshi said, "Where's Trip?" 

"He's at the apartment. He doesn't start work until Monday. He said he's going to cook tonight." Malcolm said with a slight chuckle. 

Hoshi almost choked on her sandwich, "Trip? Cook? Are you serious?" 

"Yes, I most certainly am. He said he's going to make pork chops and corn, and for desert, he said he's going to make his pecan pie." Malcolm said, "I hope it tastes as good as dinner last night." 

"Well, I just hope that we don't die on his food." Hoshi said. 

@->->-- (Friday evening)   


Later that night, Malcolm, Hoshi and Trip sat down to a rather good looking meal. 

"You did all of this." Hoshi said in obvious disbelief. 

"Yea, can't believe it can you?" Trip said with a smile, "Go ahead, dig in." 

Malcolm raised his fork and looked at it before taking a small bite of it. He let the taste sizzle on his tongue. "Not bad, Trip." 

"Thank you. Now just wait for desert. Pecan pie." Trip said. Trip couldn't wait to eat some pecan pie. If only T'Pol were around to eat it with him. 

"I can't wait," Hoshi said, "I've never had pecan pie." 

Trip almost doubled-back. "Never had pecan pie? Are you serious?" 

"Yes, I am. I've never had pecan pie," Hoshi restated, "I'm sure it'll be delicious." 

Malcolm found the meal delicious, "You should compete with cook one day." 

"Nooooo, I don't think so. Cook is way too good for me." Trip said, "Besides, I would like to keep my warp engines, thank you very much." 

"If we're stuck here any longer you just might be the inventor of warp engines. You'll take away the pride of Zefram Cochrane." Hoshi said, seeing the distain in Trip's face, "Sorry Trip. It's just that I know Captain Archer is probably trying his best to get us home, but we've been here for three days almost and it just seems so hopeless." 

"Now Hoshi, don't get pessimistic. I'm sure Captain Archer is looking for us right now." Malcolm said, giving Hoshi a reassuring smile. 

After dinner, Malcolm and Hoshi went out for a walk in the heart of San Francisco. Hand in hand, they walked down the streets of San Francisco and talked about their lives in San Francisco thus far. 

"Are you looking forward to work?" Hoshi asked. 

"Yea, it should be exciting. I haven't done martial arts in a long time." Malcolm said, "I look forward to teaching those kids. I already received my student rosters." 

"I wish I were as excited about work as you are. Sometimes it's just so hopeless, but I guess I have to get on with it. I think I'm going to start an after school tutoring session on Mondays, that way I can see if there are actually people interested in learning another language." Hoshi said. 

"That sounds like a fabulous idea. I'm sure many will show up." Malcolm said. 

As they rounded the corner, they walked into the city park, and walked through the pathways of the park. As they reached the lake, they sat at a bench and talked for awhile. 

"Malcolm, lately I've been thinking a lot about our relationship." Hoshi said. 

"Really? What have you thought about it?" Malcolm asked. 

"The last several days have been.. the most wonderful of my life." Hoshi said, "I've never had such a close relationship with anyone." 

"I feel the exact same way." Malcolm said, "I've never had a long term relationship, or a good relationship for that matter. I've always been so nervous when it came to commitment that I always ran away." 

"Are you going to run away this time?" Hoshi asked with a tender look in her eyes that hoped that he wouldn't. 

"No." Malcolm said, taking her hand, "Because, I love you." 

Hoshi looked deep into his dark, passionate eyes to know that he wasn't lying. 

"I love you too Malcolm." Hoshi said, kissing him, "I've never loved anyone like I love you." 

They sat on the park bench for several hours more, before returning back to the apartment.   
@->->-- (Monday) 

The entire weekend went by in a blur. The next thing that any of the trio realized, it was Monday morning. Malcolm and Trip would be starting their jobs that day. Trip was excited. He hadn't worked as a lifeguard in several years because of his commission with Starfleet. His strenuous career and love for engines kept him away from swimming. 

When Trip woke up at about ten thirty that morning and got ready for work. He put on his lifeguard swim trunks and a t-shirt. He put a pair of shorts, t-shirt and underwear in a bag that he would later change into. He sat down and ate breakfast by himself because Malcolm seemed to be in a hurry to work. He could see that Malcolm was excited about his job. Teaching martial arts was a wonderful thing to do. Teaching kids how to defend themselves. Trip was excited about his job as a lifeguard. When he was a lifeguard on Earth he had saved serveral young children at the Starfleet Olympic sized swimming pool. Trip loved swimming as much as he loved children. 

Trip left the apartment and locked up. He walked to the swimming pool which was conveniently located three blocks away from where he lived. He signed in at the administrative office and then went out to his post. He wasn't at all nervous, starting a job in a century he knew   
nothing about, yea there wasn't anything to worry about. 

His first few hours at the pool was very uneventful. There were a lot of cute little kids and their families there on this early weekday. Trip's favorite part about lifeguarding was the girls. Trip had always been what this century would call a "ladies man". He was charming with his southern accent and fashion savvy self. He put on his sunglasses and applied some sunblock to himself. 

He sat back for a moment before he heard a cry for help. He quickly surveyed the pool before seeing a girl frantically waving her arms in the air. A swimmer was drowning. Trip dived into the pool and with his ferocious speed, was over to the area in which the child had been submerged. He came up for a breathe of air before submerging himself, and returning with the girl. The girl was not breathing. Trip brought her over to the poolside, and began CPR. 

"How long was she under?" Trip asked the girl that was with her. 

"About a minute, I turned away for a moment and she was under." The girl said frantically. 

Trip resumed CPR, and within another minute, the girl coughed up water. Trip sighed a breathe of relief. 

"Good, cough up all the water." Trip said, leaning the girl onto her side so releasing water would be easier, "You two will have to follow me into the nurses station to fill out a report and to get you all better." 

Trip wrapped the girl in a towel and carried the girl to the nurses' station and put her on the make-shift bed. He went to the table and retrieved an accident report. 

"Thank you so much for saving her, I'm Alicia, I'm her babysitter." Alicia said. 

"How old are you Alicia?" Trip asked. 

"Fifteen. I'm not going to get into trouble am I?" Alicia said with a bit of nervousness in her voice. 

"Nah, I just need it for the report." Trip said, looking over to the younger girl, "What's your name pumpkin?" 

"Melanie Cartwright." 

"And Melanie, how old are you?" Trip said in the softest voice he knew. 

"I'm six," Melanie said, holding up six fingers. 

"Wonderful. Are you experiencing any pain right now, honey?" Trip said. 

She shook her head, "Is that good?" 

"Yes, it's very good." 

"Now all you have to do is sign here, both of you." Trip said, handing them the paper and pen. They both scribbled their names, Melanie literally, and handed them back to Trip. 

"I can't thank you enough." Alicia said, "What's your name?" 

"Charles Tucker." 

"Thank Mister Charles Tucker." Melanie said as they left. 

Trip smiled. He felt a sense of accomplishment. He had saved a life. 

@->->-- 

Malcolm's first day at work was a blast. The kids he were working with for the first session were excellent. They were so disciplined. One of his students was especially mesmirizing. His name was Landon Bailes Junior. He was a ten year brown belt. He had discipline for his moves.   
When the session ended, Malcolm called Landon over. 

"Landon, would you mind staying a moment. I want to talk to you about something." Malcolm asked. 

"Sure, I'm not in trouble am I?" Landon asked, "Was it that double backflip? I was only playing around." 

Malcolm gave him a reassuring smile, "No, not at all. I just wanted to talk to you about your discipline. Where in the world did you learn such discipline for such a young fellow like yourself?" 

"My father is a black belt, he taught me real young." Landon said, "He said he wanted me to be able to defend myself because of our neighborhood." 

"What about your neighborhood?" Malcolm asked, "Is it particularly dangerous?" 

"Yea. It is." Landon said, "So he taught me a few moves, and taught me how to defend myself." 

"Where is your father?" Malcolm asked curiously. 

"He was killed." Landon said. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." Malcolm said. 

"It's alright. He died when I was six in a fight with some guys in our neighborhood. They wanted him to hand over his money and when he wouldn't, one of them shot him. Since then, I wanted to make myself better so that wouldn't happen to me." 

"No worry, I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Malcolm said, feeling for the young boy, "Now, get going. You don't want your mother to worry." 

Malcolm went to the bathroom and waited for his next session to start. He was a bit disturbed by the violence of the twenty-first century. Of course, there was violence in the twenty-second century as well, but not on Earth. It was always Earth versus another planet or an interstellar war. Malcolm got ready for his next session. They would be a set of teenagers that he hadn't met. He hoped that they were nice, and wanted to learn karate unlike Hoshi's students. 

@->->-- 

Hoshi was nearly bored out of her mind with the teenagers. They had shown a little interest, which was a good start, and Hoshi felt better about that. When she had mentioned her tutoring afterschool, and that she wanted the majority of the class to attend; she was greeted by many choruses of moans, groans and no's. 

"I think it'd be good for your grades if you attend this tutoring session," Hoshi said, "Grades for the first marking period are due Friday, and you'll be having a test tomorrow on everything you've learned thus far. I'd advise you to show up if you know what's good for your grade." 

Many had said they'd go, but Hoshi wasn't sure if they really would. She remained optimistic however, because it was their lives, not her own. She was giving up a bit by thinking that, but in a way the kids didn't want to learn, and it was their loss she supposed. She couldn't do anything to change their minds. The bell rung then, but surprisingly no one moved. 

Hoshi was confused. "The bell rung, you guys are dismissed." 

Still no one moved. No one entered the class either. 

"What's wrong with you guys today? You guys don't want to learn, but you guys want to stay?" Hoshi asked the class. 

"Stop talking bitch." Hoshi said, as she turned to her right, she saw a man in the doorway with a gun. 

Hoshi panicked inside in her head. She had read about guns before in history books. 

"What do you want?" Hoshi asked. 

"I want you to be quiet. No screaming or I pull the trigger and blow your head to peices." The gunman said, "Now, I want you to call the Principal. Get her in here. I want some of my demends met." 

"Okay, Hoshi said, reaching for the telephone in the corner. She called the principals office and talked with the Principal. She told her of the situation, and she was on her way. 

@->->-- 

In the administrative office, the principal ordered the rest of the building evacuated in the most quietest manner and to have Hoshi's next of kin contacted in this emergency. She also had the police contacted and told them of the situation. She advised them to use uttermost care in handling this situation. Emily left the office and headed towards the classroom. 

@->->-- 

Malcolm let his class take a break. He was really sweating it out with them, having them do pushups, situps and other exercise techniques to get their bodies in shape for karate. He allowed them to drink some water, and take a breather. 

"Malcolm, there's a call for you on line two." The guy at the front desk said. 

"Alright, thank you." Malcolm said, picking up the phone and hitting line two, "Malcolm Reed speaking." 

"Hi, I'm Doris from San Francisco High School." the lady said. 

Instantly, Malcolm had a bad sensation in the pit of his stomach, "Is Hoshi alright?" Malcolm was worried. 

"There's been a bit of an emergency." Doris said, "Ms. Sato's class has been taken hostage at gunpoint. At this time, we don't know the condition of the students or Ms. Sato, but you are listed as her next of kin. I just thought I'd inform you of this predicament." 

"What?" Malcolm exclaimed in utter disbelief, "Are you kidding me? Look, I'll be down there as soon as I can." Malcolm hung up the phone, and went to find his boss. He explained the situation to his students, and would make up for it the next day. He also picked up the phone and called Trip at the pool to let him know what was going on. 

@->->-- 

The door of the classroom opened. Everyone held their breath. The Principal walked into the room. She strategically left the door open. The gunman was stupid to not notice. 

"Look, you don't want to do this. If you stop now, the government'll fix ya up and you'll be good as new." Emily said. 

"I want a helicopter outta here, and I'm taking the fine teacher with me." the man said, "I also want five thousand dollars wired into this bank account." 

Hoshi swallowed with difficulty. She was afraid. She'd never had anything of the sort happen to her. She held her ground though. 

Suddenly, a shot rang out and the gunman fell to his knees before hitting the ground. Blood leaked out of his head as he lay there lifeless. Hoshi exhaled with a breathe of relief. She didn't know what she'd have done if she did indeed leave with the gunman. 

"Everyone, file out. Head down to the cafeteria, counseling services will begin." An assistant principal stated. 

Hoshi put her head in her hands and regained her composure. 

"Are you okay, Hoshi?" Emily asked her. 

"Yea I think so. I've seen a bit worse stuff in my old place." Hoshi said. 

Just then, Malcolm walked into the classroom. Upon seeing the dead gunman, he breathed better. 

"Hoshi, love, are you okay?" Malcolm said, embracing her. 

"I'm fine Malcolm." 

"Are you sure?" Malcolm said, kissing her forehead. 

"No," Hoshi said, as she broke into tears.   
  


@->->-- 

Personal Log: September 16, 2152 

We will be in Earth's orbit within the hour and Ensign Mayweather and I are preparing to fly down to San Francisco. The research that we have done has enabled us to costume ourselves as casual people of the twenty-first century. The fashion hasn't changed much in the last hundred and fifty years. However, we have reviewed the history of the twentieth century and have familarized ourselves with the customs and attitude of the time. We will be returning to September 13, 2002, a year and two days after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The world is still at a tense stage of its development. I am anxious to find my colleagues and return to our time, for we only have a limited amount of time to find them in. 

"End log." Captain Archer said, he looked at himself in the mirror. He was dressed in light blue jeans, a grey t-shirt, and Steve Madden boots. He thought he looked like one of the people in the pictures. He exited his quarters and headed towards the turbolift. He took the turbolift to the shuttlebay to meet Travis. When he saw Travis, he almost had to double check himself. Travis was dressed in a pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a grey flannel shirt. 

"Wow, you look good for this time period." Jon said to Travis. 

"Thank you sir, you don't look too bad yourself." Travis said. 

"Travis, while we're on the planet, and I suppose for all times we're off-duty, feel free to call me Jon." Archer said. 

"Okay," Travis said, "Jon. That sounds weird." 

Archer gave a slight chuckle and they walked into the shuttlebay. They boarded the shuttle. They left the ship without incident. T'Pol remained onboard the Enterprise to monitor the readings on Earth. Archer had given permission to half the crew for shoreleave for a day on Earth, so Enterprise was running on a skeleton crew. 

Soon they entered Earth's atmosphere and cleared with Starfleet to land at their site. They had pinpointed the location to San Francisco, and was attempting to localize it even further. They had chosen a site in a remote area of San Francisco, and walk into the city from the valley therefore to avoid any suspicious activity. 

The time portal technology was packed away in a baseball duffel to avoid suspicion. They set up the time portal in a valley outside of San Francisco, aided by several other officials from Starfleet to monitor the portal on Earth. They set the portal up, and powered it up. 

"Ready?" Jon asked. 

"As I'll ever be." Travis said. 

They walked through the time portal and felt a tingly sensation as their molecules raced backwards through time. Within minutes, they were in the twenty-first century, in visibly the same valley they had just left. However, the valleys were different. The tops were higher, and the sand harder. It was dark out, they hadn't readjusted their chronometers. They unassembled the time portal and put it in the baseball duffel. They walked out of the valley and towards the Golden Gate Bridge which would lead them to San Francisco. 

"Jon, how are we going to find them?" Travis asks. 

"Well according to that electronic billboard, today is September 16, 2002, and it early evening." Jon said, "I don't think it'd be easy to try to find them now. We have all day tomorrow to find them. Now would just be a time waster." 

Jon and Travis walked through the streets, passing the stores. As they walked by an electronics store the televisions displayed the local news. They doubled back when they saw what they saw. 

"In local news, a good samaritan saves a six year old girl from drowning at the local pool. Linda White has the story." 

"This six year old has a lot to be thankful for. Today she was at the pool with her babysitter when she slipped into the deepest end of the pool. Luckily for her, she had this twenty-five year old southern charm to save her. Twenty-five year old Charles Tucker has been an avid swimmer, and a good samaritan." 

"Travis, tell me that's not Trip." Jon said. 

"It's.. Trip." 

"In other news, a gunman holds a San Francisco High School class hostage for half an hour. Their teacher, Hoshi Sato remained calm, and collected. She was to be the bargaining chip had the gunman left the building. He was shot and died instantly." 

"Tell me that's not Hoshi." Travis said. 

"It's Hoshi." Jon said, "What the hell have they been doing to the flow of time?" 

"At least we know where they work." Travis said, wanting to look on the bright side.   
@->->-- 

Onboard Enterprise, half the crew had gone on Shore Leave. T'Pol was on the bridge for the entire day. Vulcans needed no rest. Dr Phlox sooned joined T'Pol on the bridge. He was bored as well. He didn't want to return to Earth, for there was not much to see. 

"Dr. Phlox, what is your purpose for being on the bridge?" T'Pol asked. 

"I have no purpose. I just thought I'd keep you company." Dr. Phlox said. 

T'Pol raised an eyebrow. 

"How is the time portal so far?" Dr. Phlox asked. 

"It is going quite smoothly. We will have to monitor the readings more carefully as the twenty-four hour mark comes closer." T'Pol said.   


@->->-- 

Travis and Jon had been walking around San Francisco the entire night. They knew where Hoshi worked, so they would find her in the morning when she went to work. San Francisco High School.   
"This night has been so eventful. I hope we can find Hoshi, Malcolm and Trip." Travis said, "I loved that we just walked around. San Francisco is so nice in this time period." 

"Yea, it really is. It's a shame we can't enjoy the sights longer." Jon said, "School usually started around eight o'clock in this time period. We've got an hour." 

"We can just walk around a little more." Travis said, "Find the school." 

"That's a good idea." Jon said, "I look forward to getting my crew back." 

They walked around San Francisco looking for San Francisco High School. They eventually found it. It was a quaint looking school made of bricks and four central columns. 

"Looks nice enough." Travis said, as they crossed the street to enter the building. 

They walked into the administration office and was greeted by a young secretary. 

"Hello gentlemen, how may I help you?" she said. 

"We're looking for a Hoshi Sato." Jon said. 

"Ah yes, Ms. Sato is teaching a class at this moment, I will inform her that you are here. She will meet with you after her class." She said, "May I ask who you are?" 

"I'm Jon Archer, a friend of hers." Jon said, smiling with gratitude, "Thank you very much." 

They waited for about twenty minutes before they heard a bell that signaled the end of class. Hoshi walked into the office and went to see the secretary. The secretary pointed over to the pair. Hoshi was surprised to see them. 

"Travis, Jon!" Hoshi exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" 

"I know it's a surprise to you too, I'm glad to see that you're doing okay." Jon said, "How about we take a walk?" 

"Sure," Hoshi said, walking out with the two men. 

They walked into the school courtyard and into the a secluded area of the courtyard. 

"Captain, I'm glad to see you." Hoshi said a bit relieved. 

"We're glad to have found you. If it hadn't been for that school shooting, we wouldn't have seen you on television, and we wouldn't have found you." Travis said, "Where's Malcolm and Trip?" 

"They're both working. Trip is working at the swimming pool and Malcolm is working at the Ludwig Martial Arts Center." Hoshi said, " 

"We've got only a small window of opportunity left. We have to leave by tonight." Jon said, 

"Oh." Hoshi said, with a little disappointment. 

"Is there something wrong?" Jon asked. 

"It's just that I was just getting used to life here. Believe it or not, Trip actually *cooked* on Friday for dinner." Hoshi said. 

"Wow, Trip cooked something and you guys are alive to see it." Travis said jokingly. 

"Yea, but I'm anxious to get home." Hoshi said, "I guess I'll have to inform my boss that I'm leaving today." 

"Yes, that would be advisable." Jon said, "Damn, I'm starting to sound like T'Pol. We'd better hurry before it comes back." 

Hoshi laughed, "I can't wait to go home." 

@->->-- 

After work, Hoshi brought Jon and Travis back to their apartment. 

"Nice place," Travis said, taking a seat on the couch. 

Malcolm came out of the room. 

"Love, what's going on?" Malcolm said, and his jaw dropped when he saw the Captain and their helmsman. 

"I see that you've made some progress of your own Malcolm." Jon said, "Fraternization isn't really allowed by Starfleet, but what the hell. You guys weren't really active when you guys fraternized." 

"Thank you Captain." Hoshi said. 

Trip entered the apartment then. He was surprised when he saw his mentor and Travis in their living room. 

"Whoa. Are we on the Enterprise?" Trip said confusingly. 

"We're going home," Hoshi said, "Tonight." 

That night, after they had paid all their debts, they went to the Valley and used the time portal to return home. 

@->->-- 

Captain's Log: September 18, 2152 

I'm happy to report that my three officers have returned to the twenty-second century unharmed. However, I do not know the extent of their time-meddling. Ensign Sato was a language teacher at a local high school, Lieutenant Reed was a martial arts instructor and Commander Tucker was a lifeguard. Commander Tucker saved a life of a girl, we do not know if she was supposed to have died at that pool.   
However, I am glad that they are back. The extent of their meddling is extremely small. Many will not know of their absence. They were told that they had to relocate due to a dying family member. 

"End Log." Captain Archer said. 

He was truly glad that his officers were back. He didn't know what they'd have done if he couldn't find them.   


@->->-- 

Back onboard Enterprise, Hoshi and Malcolm resettled with ease. They still enjoyed each other's company, and neither let it affect their work. They were back just in time to catch the movie-of-the-week. It was entitled, "Travels Through Time". Coincedentily, it was about three officers from the future who get stuck in the year 2002. Hoshi and Malcolm laughed at the coincedence. 

After the movie, they went back to Malcolm's quarters for dinner. It was a beautiful candlelit dinner for two. They sat down to eat. 

"This is so beautiful," Hoshi said, "What a way to come home." 

"I love you Hoshi." Malcolm said, "And there's no other way to say it. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you." 

Hoshi looked deep into his eyes and saw the truth. He truly loved her. 

"I love you too, Malcolm." 

They kissed and finished their meal before cuddling up on the sofa and reading a book. 

@->->-- 

Personal Log: September 18, 2152 

I'm so glad to be back with my warp engine. And even if I made my own pecan pie, there's nothing like Cook's. I miss Earth in 2002, but there are definite perks with living in the year 2152. I have my friends and my family. It was lonely on Earth to say the least, I had Hoshi and Malcolm, but they're always together doing.. God knows what. And I missed the modern sports. Swimming is always a good thing, but I have to admit, I like the modern sports better. I'm glad that I got to make a difference in the twenty-first century, but I hope I haven't meddled too much into the fabric of time. Overall, it was a good bonding experience with Hoshi and Malcolm. It's kind of like when Captain Archer and I were in that desert, or when we were doing our survival training. Only minus the snake. 

"End log." Trip said, as he sat down with satisfaction, "Home sweet home." 

@->->-- 

The End 

Feedback is much appreciated -- averie_chambers@hotmail.com 


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